Veterans provide stories, lessons

Larry Cappetto, an independent documentary filmmaker who specializes in telling veterans’ stories, has been in Sturgis this week.

By Rosalie Currierrcurrier@sturgisjournal.com

Larry Cappetto, an independent documentary filmmaker who specializes in telling veterans’ stories, has been in Sturgis this week.On Veterans Day, he was the guest speaker at Sturgis Rotary. On Tuesday, Cappetto talked to Sturgis eighth-graders at the middle school. Today, he plans to speak at the high school. Cappetto told of his 11-year journey capturing on film what has become the series, “Lest They Be Forgotten.” “Veterans Day is like Christmas for me,” Cappetto told the many veterans in attendance at Rotary.None of those veterans think of themselves as heroes, he said.“You tell me the heroes are the ones who didn’t come home,” Cappetto said, “the ones buried over there.”But all veterans are heroes to Cappetto.“You are the eyes and the ears of the past,” he said. “You all were history being made. My job is history being told.”On Monday, Cappetto gathered stories from local veterans, interviewing Richard Persing, Ed Potts and Paul Watters, all of Sturgis.He heard of Potts’ service in the Korean War, Persing’s time in the Vietnam War from and Watters’ experience during World War II. The last interview of the day was with Watters, who will soon turn 91. As they wrapped up the session, Watters talked about what the interview meant to him.“I’m really thrilled to have served my country in World War II,” Watters said.He was a Navy fighter pilot serving from 1943-1946 in the South Pacific and part of the initial invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. It was the last campaign of World War II. In a squadron of 25, Watters said three pilots were killed, then replaced. Today, only three members of the squadron are still alive, Watters said.“It was our job to hit them with everything we could,” Watters said.The weapon was napalm bombs — a petroleum-based product dropped from fighter planes as 500-pound rockets, Watters said.Like many World War II veterans, Watters didn’t talk about the experience for years. That is typical, Cappetto said. “Seventy-five percent of the veterans I’ve talked to never told their stories to anyone else,” Cappetto said.But their silence had nothing to do with forgetting the experience.“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about World War II,” Watters said. Persing, Potts and Watters, along with several other veterans, visited the schools with Cappetto, providing flesh-and-blood history lessons.Persing told of his time in Vietnam. There is a common thread in all wars, he said. “The horror. The chaos.”The military’s goal is to train soldiers for every situation they might face. For Vietnam War veterans, one thing the miliary couldn’t train for was the reception the men got upon returning home.“Some had eggs thrown at them,” Persing said. “Some were spit on. Some got off the plane and got into fights. We were not popular. We were not well-liked.”As he recalled that experience decades ago, Persing paused to hold back tears.“Our war and our coming home was ugly. It hurts. It hurts a lot,” he said.Even so, Persing told the students he would do it all again.“I’m so proud to have served my country,” he said. “I’m so proud to have served my flag and to have fought for it. I am woven into that flag.”As students lined up to thank the veterans, Kristen Wilson said the hour was “inspiring — like showing how they fought for us — making education for us. Making a good life for us.”Adrianna Valdez said she realized that the flag has deeper meaning.“That flag isn’t just a flag,” Valdez said. “It’s a symbol for our country and the people who served.”For Jade Burokus, the experience hit close to home. Four or five family members are currently deployed and her father served in Desert Storm.“I felt so moved by (the presentation),” Burokus said. “I will probably never understand what they have gone through.”Hackman Family Funeral Home sponsored Cappetto’s visit to Sturgis, as part of its 100th anniversary. Cappetto interviewed eight veterans during his stay, but he would like to talk to more.“The response is just overwhelming,” Cappetto said. “Our hopes are to come back to produce a documentary just for this area.”